budget BP rifle ?

leserz
Member
Posts: 5
(8/19/02 7:17:58 pm)
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are any of the BP rifles I see in bass pro shop or cabelas for $ 60.00 to $150.00 worth buying? wanted a BP sense i was a kid. like the Hawken type .50 cal. how far can you shoot accuratly with BP ?

Edited by: leserz at: 8/19/02 8:54:55 pm

stan741
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Posts: 11
(8/21/02 8:05:32 am)
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There is nothing at all wrong with these budget black powder rifles.The only difference between any one of these and one made by a "big name" is fit and finish.And this is true of ANY rifle you can buy.There will of couse possibly be differences in the steel but they are all gonna fire and be reasonably accurate.Also they are ,and I cannot say this too emphatically,ONE HELL OF A LOT OF FUN.
My first BP gun was a CVA Kentucky in .45.Very accurate.Heavy as the devil and LLLOOONNNGGG.I did kill several deer with it.
Presently I am mainly shooting a .50 T/C White Mountain carbine and have killed several deer with it.Usually I will hunt muzzle loader season and then use a modern rifle for the first part of regular gun season.Then I go right back to the T/C for the remainer of gun season.This adds a lot of enjoyment to deer hunting for me.
Range of a black powder rifle is in direct proportion to the skill of the shooter and familiarity with the particular weapon.Without going into a lot of detail I use the rule personally that they will shoot as far as I am comfortable with.I do not impose any more limitations on range of a BP gun than I do a regular weapon.There have been recorded kills out to 600 yards.
The budget rifles are a good deal and will get you into the sport and if you want ,you can later buy a more expensive one.Try it, you'll like it.
The more I listen, the more I hear......and vice versa.

leserz
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Posts: 6
(8/21/02 9:33:44 am)
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thanks ! i will order one. a buddy on mine got his kid one of the $ 70.00 ones. i shot it once with him was a ball .kaboom and a cloud of smoke.

leserz
Member
Posts: 7
(8/23/02 10:21:41 pm)
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went out today and got a CVA mt.stalker 50 cal.will try to get out this week and do some shooting with it.took me 40+ yrs to get one.better late than never.

stan741
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Posts: 20
(10/9/02 4:12:47 am)
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Most consistent accuracy with a black power rifle with standard twist is with a round ball.Many newer rifles have different twist to specifically accomodate conical bullets.
My T/C White Mountain does best with round ball and 80 grains of black powder.
I use swaged balls rather than cast.Swaged balls have no sprue and are more consistently round than cast which to me means the little extra edge in accuracy.Just MHO.
If I were to buy a new rifle I would buy stainless and with a composite stock for hunting only.There is still nothing quite like the look of blue steel and wood but the newer materials are indestructible and much easier kept and cleaned.
Having had several black powder rifles I will comment that the fit and finish of T/C guns is superior to most.
I have always shied away from anything other than black powder as a charge but there are a lot of new items to be had in that respect.Pyrodex and clear shot being among these new products.
I would be interested in hearing results from anyone in comparing these propellants to black powder.
It is a never ending thrill to me every time I pull the trigger and it goes boom.I hunt with a muzzle loader as much as I do with modern rifles even during regular gun season.
You are going to really like these rifles.Keep us posted on your results.
The more I listen, the more I hear......and vice versa.

I cut one pipe to 16", the pipe that fit over it, to 12", the breech pipe, that fit over the other two to 6", and I capped the ends of the second and third breech pipes. I ground, on a grinding wheel, the cap end of the second, middle pipe, so that the third final breech pipe would sllide easily over it. So, the breech plug, was fashioned from two standard galvanized steel pipe plugs. I used standard pure lead plumbers lead, and a gasoline powered hand tourch that you had to pump up by hand, like the old coleman lanterns... and I hand soldered all the pipes together.

I took an old 2X4, and with hatchet, a set of wood files, and a draw knife.. and set to work carving a handle and a half stock out of two pieces, that I fitted to this barrel... I held the barrel into the half-stock with a single bolt, I fed up from the bottom of the stock, and into the thickest part of the three concentric pipes, the breech end, into a hole drilled and tapped to handle the #12 standard machine bolt. I fastened the handle end with a similar single #12 machine screw that fitted into the handle horizontially, into the slot I carved out with chisiling, that held the hammer spring, the overhead hammer, and the trigger, so, the bolt that held the handle, into the butt end of the breesh plug, which was drilled and tapped to accept the #12 machine screw, was mostly hidden from view, but, all the other stuff, the hammer spring, the hammer itself, and the mounting screws, bolts, were all exposed... It looked a bit primative, but not a bad job for a very determined 11yo farm boy.

I fashioned a "Zip Gun" overhead hammer arrangement, by fashioning a hammer, and a triggger from some soft plate steel that was laying around the barn someplace. That was the hardest part, making the hammer, I cut it with a hack saw, carved with various steps of filing with finer and finer files... buffed and polished on a grinding wheel... but, I got it made... It sort of resembled those old underhammers made by the Thompson Centerfire gun company, those underhammer rifles they make, except, mine was an overhammer, and stockier, and not so professionally done, as the factory made ones. There was no nipple at all on my gun. what I did was drill a 3/32" hole, right under where the hammer struck, positioning the hammer so that the hammer fell right on the barrel, just past the end of the breech plug, so, that the hole would lead directly down into the powder area of the breech end. I took some greenie-stick-em caps, 5 of them, positioned one directly over the hole, and snipped 4 more, so that I snipped off the circular excess from one side, very close to where the charge pocket was on the paper cap, and layed the snipped stick-em-caps, in a four point arrangement all around the first cap positioned directly over the flash hole, I overlapped the charge pockets of the snipped caps over the center of the center cap. So, I ended up with a pile of 5 toy cap gun caps, directly under where the hammer struck on the barrel, and over the flash hole.

I found some spring steel, someplace...and fashioned a simple V spring, of the style that is commonly used as a frizzen spring on a flintlock...

I used toy caps for my percussion ignitors

I "borrowed" the black powder from my Dad's Powder horn...

I loaded it with patched oversized marbles from my marble bag....

It Fired... It Worked.... I LOVED THAT DAMN THING....

I used an old mountain man's methode of measuring my powder. Which is, you lay your ball out in your cupped hand, you carefully cover the ball with powder until the ball is covered, that is a good approximation of the powder you need for that ball. It is a self regulating laymans way of estimating your powder charge, sized to the ball size in your palm.

I gave it to my younger nephew when I went off to college, He has it still, plans on giving it to his son...

Sincerely,

ElvinWarrior... aka... David

This kit, available from Dixie Gun Works, approximates the home made pistol I made from spare parts laying around all over. Howver, my pistol was consderably larger, heavier, had no sight, and was a bit primative in comparison. I also did not include a knife blade under the barrel, and, I had no nipple on my pistol, just a touch hole, under the hammer, that I piled 5 greenie-stick-em toy gun percussion paper caps on. But, you get the general idea of the overal design from this kit.

basicly any of these firearms are decent consider the original bp were usually not always fit or finished perfectly and they were a mainstay for settlers ect . i would definatly recomend gettin a sorta basic model to get started in this fun and exciting sport and as far as how far they can shoot a .50 can esily hit targets / game out to at least 100 yds or more .